What to do About the Parents Moving in

You knew it was coming, that the day would eventually arrive when you would have to make the decision of where to put your aging parents. It’s difficult for older citizens to take care of a multi-storied house — especially if their nest is empty. However, what many older Americans don’t want is to be immediately moved into nursing homes and retirement communities. Many families have therefore decided to include grandma and grandpa in their immediate family.

But what do you do about the space you need to create? Custom home designs can be a huge benefit when it comes to accommodating extra live-in residents. Homebuilders feel optimistic about the future of housing, with single-family sales expectations for the next six months jumping to 61% from 52%. The single-family home sales component rose to 56% from 48%, while prospective buyer traffic climbed to 40% from 33%.

For routine maintenance expenses, 26% of all homeowners spent $100 or more a month on various upkeep costs. However, only 11% of newly build home owners spend this much, which means aging parents and homeowners could both benefit from a new house.

Start out with a tabula rasa — a custom home design. You will be able to choose custom home floor plans throughout the house — including where your parents will be staying. Custom home plans offer the benefit of being flexible. For example, maybe your parents cannot walk up and down the stairs very well; customer home builders will happily install a lower level walk-out entranceway so they can go straight from the car to their living space.

Custom home designs also offer some unique features, such as casitas. Casitas, Spanish for “a small house,” are a great option if you want a completely separate area for your loved ones. These separate living quarters can be a great option for loved ones who are still very independent, but may need a little bit of assistance and monitoring once in awhile.

These casitas are often included in modern luxury homes as guest houses, which you can also use as an option if your loved ones decide they want to live elsewhere after a few years. Many custom home builders can build the casita to the homeowners’ liking, and they don’t always have to follow the original home model layout or appearance.

Newly built home sales are expected to increase 29% this year, and many of these custom home designs will include separate living quarters for loved ones.